1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shoe, especially sport or leisure shoe, with a central closure that is coupled with at least one rope-like tightening element, with can be shortened to tighten the vamp area of the shoe and lengthened to loosen it, the tightening element being guided back and forth between guide elements on side parts of the upper and on an instep cover that overlies the instep area.
2. Description of Related Art
A shoe of the general type to which this invention is directed is known, in the form of a ski boot, for example, from EP B1 0 099 504 and EP B1 0 132 744. In the case of these ski boots, a central closure is provided on the upper rear part of a boot upper that, as is generally known, is made of a relatively rigid material. A cover that extends over the instep area and the ankle to the attachment point of the shin-bone is present. This cover is, therefore, shaped angularly when viewed from the side. From the central closure, a tightening element extends on both sides approximately from the sole area in the area of the ankle over the cover. The cover also is made of a relatively rigid material and is used to tightly hold the foot in the shoe, and it is located in the shoe between a soft inner shoe and the rigid outer shell.
Further, it is known from German application DE A 35 24 792 to provide, in the case of a ski boot, a bending cuff made of rigid material on the front upper part, a cuff that is hinged to pivot on the upper in the area of the ankle bone and extends upward to over the center of the shin-bone. In the upper end area, ends of the tightening element are laterally fastened to the bending cuff and are coupled with a central sliding closure located on the upper rear part. The bending cuff can therefore be pulled against the upper in the shin-bone area.
Also known (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5, 117,567; 5,177,882 and 5,181,331) are athletic shoes which have an upper formed of nonrigid materials that are provided with a central closure mechanism that is coupled with at least one elongated flexible tightening element by which a vamp of the upper can be tightened and loosened via increasing and decreasing an effective length of the at least one tightening element as measured from the central closure mechanism, the at least one tightening element being guided from the central closure mechanism along sides of the shoe so as pass between guide elements on the upper and an instep cover that at least partially overlaps an instep area of the shoe. However, in these shoes, the central closure is mounted on the instep cover and the vamp has a throat opening in the instep area that is covered by the instep cover and the guide elements on the upper are disposed at the sides of the throat opening.